The Final Tale of Sasiv: The Last Night
by J.T. Beetle
Summary: This is a bit of an odd story to start off my posting with as it's actually the last of a series that I don't care to post in full. Sasiv Isano goes on a search for food and finds more than he wanted...


Sasiv Isano stepped from his manor on the edge of Ald'ruhn and inhaled deeply. The smell of the fresh night air, cool as it was, warmed him, filled him with an excitement he loved to renew each night. It had become his ritual, waking just past sunset, washing up, then heading out on the town. Heading out, that is, to find his night's meal.

No sooner had he passed through the arch to the city than he saw a trio of guards walking toward him. He held up a hand to stop them, looking at them questioningly.

"Councilman Isano," the lead guard said, inclining his head in a polite nod. "We were just heading out to a nearby cave that has been identified as a den of thieves and burglars. One of them was just seen not more than an hour ago heading toward the cave. We're…anxious, to say the least."

"Yes, I'd imagine you are," Sasiv said with a slightly arrogant tone. "Anxious to regain your reputation, I take it?"

The lead guard sighed and glanced at the other two. They turned their heads away in an attempt to refrain themselves from saying anything. "Yes," the guard said with a sneer. "After that humiliation last week with the Dark Brotherhood, we have all you nobles breathing down our necks. We figure if we do something big, clearing out a gang of thieves that have been plaguing the city, for instance, we might regain our honor and restore the faith of the public."

"Noble of you, indeed," Sasiv said through a chuckle. "But perhaps our breathing down your necks is keeping you on your toes, so to speak. Perhaps it is making you do your job _right _for a change. I think I'll take care of this ring of thieves. You men can return to your patrol."

He turned sharply, leaving the seething guards behind him cursing under their breath. He grinned in his mind. They'd given him enough grief in his time; he was simply returning the favor.

After a brief stop off at his manor to gather an outfit more appropriate the job, he mounted his faithful mare and rode for the cave. It didn't take him long to find it, although it _was_ well hidden. The thieves certainly knew a thing or two of secrecy. Still, the stench from their unwashed bodies and the enticing scent of their life-giving blood wasn't hard to pick up.

He deftly slid from the horses back and fell immediately to a stalking position. This was his favorite part of his night life: stalking the prey. He crept silently to the door and listened. Just on the other side was the slow, steady heartbeat of a guard that had fallen asleep at the door. Quietly as he could, the Dunmer noble opened the door and darted inside. His sleeping victim was laying before him on the ground, neck beautifully exposed and ready for the taking.

He crouched low and plunged his elongated canines into the underside of the huge Nord's chin. In a matter of moments he'd suckled all the nourishment he needed and then some. The guard's heartbeat slowed to a stop, and Sasiv allowed the body to slump back to the floor. He was invigorated after the meal and anxious to finish the job he'd come here to do. He crouched low to the ground again and let his instincts take over. This is what the Berne were made to do: stalk their prey in the dead of night, unseen until the attack that was over before the victim had a chance to scream. He melded with the shadows around him, all but invisible to anyone that looked straight at him.

In this manner, he went methodically throughout the cave killing one thief after another. It wasn't until the came upon the last chamber in the cave that he realized something was terribly wrong with this group of thieves. He'd given no extra thought to the quality of weapons and armor these thieves had. He'd assumed they'd just obtained a particularly good bit of loot. It never dawned on him that perhaps these things had been supplied to them.

He crept into the final chamber of the cave and was immediately hit with the powerful stench of Quarra blood. His eyes scanned the room until he found the smell's source: a woman in the center of the room bound to an upright table, surrounded by thieves of every race. She looked like she had been there for several nights without feeding. A deep voice rumbled from the other side of the room suddenly. Sasiv nearly gave away his cover before composing himself and listening to the speaker.

"This is your last chance, _vampire,_" the voice said menacingly, almost hissing the last word. "You cannot possibly live through this night without feeding. As much as I would enjoy watching you writhe in pain, I'd much prefer it if you'd tell me what I want. Where is the rest of your clan?"

The vampire raised her head with some effort and hissed back at him. "Fool…not even I know where they are. I was cast out long ago. Why do you think I came _here_ looking for food? I have no cattle to feed from." She gave a shallow cough that sounded like more of a whimper and dropped her head back down. The owner of the deep voice stepped forward, and Sasiv's eyes widened.

He wore no helmet, revealing himself to be a Redguard. His armor gleamed brightly with the light of the sun, the unmistakable armor of the Order of Arkay: Vampire hunters. The man put his hand under the vampire's chin and jerked her head up roughly. "Then I suggest you start using your imagination and telling me something."

The Quarra jerked her head forward in an obvious move for the man's throat, but it was useless. Between her bonds and the terrible hunger, she could barely move. Still, the lunge made the hunter jump back. He glared at her and spat in her face. "Foolish wench!" he bellowed.

Sasiv could stand it no longer. As much as he despised the other vampire clans, he couldn't sit back and watch this happen. He knew there was no use attempting to sneak with all the people about; he was good, but not that good. Instead, he utilized an innate ability of the Berne clan that he'd only used once before. He felt his mind expand like a cloud of gas pervading the room. Every person in the room heard the voice from a different direction as it bellowed out:

"**Release her!"**

The thieves scrambled around the room, turning every direction searching for the voice. In the confusion, Sasiv threw his voice this time toward the entry chamber of the cave.

"**Release her now, or I will be forced to do it myself."**

The hunter jerked his head to the entourage of thieves. "Go take care of this," he ordered. The group obeyed without hesitation and bolted from the room, leaving the hunter alone with his captive.

"Ah," he said arrogantly as he turned back to her. "You _do_ have friends, don't you?"

The captive vampire didn't even have the strength to respond, and the hunter let her head drop. He moved to pick up his sword and join the fight and stopped dead in his tracks: the sword was gone.

"Damn fools," he said under his breath. "When I find out which of those wretches took it, I'll run him through."

He turned and found the sword lying before him on the ground, several feet away from where he'd left it.

"And they left it on the floor?! Imbeciles!"

He bent over to pick it up and received a boot in his backside that sent him tumbling head over heels to the ground. He shook his head and looked up to see a red-haired Dunmer standing over him. "Isano!" he roared.

"Ah, so you've heard of me," Sasiv said with a grin. "My reputation precedes me."

"Yes, I've heard of you," the hunter growled, scrambling to his feet. "You took my wife from me, turned her into one of your kind. I've been waiting for this day!"

He lunged at the leader of the Berne with his hands ready to strangle him, but the vampire was too quick. He neatly sidestepped the hunter and circled behind him, gripping his arms and sinking his teeth into the Redguard's throat.

A club smashed into Sasiv's back, causing him to jerk his head in surprise, ripping the man's jugular vein out in the process. An Argonian stood before him, club in hand and eyes wide in terror. Sasiv just looked at him.

"Boo," he said, simply. The Argonian backed away quickly, tripping over his own tail. Sasiv lunged at him, sinking his teeth into his scaly throat. As the lizard's heartbeat began to slow, Sasiv bit into his own wrist and put it to his mouth. His dark blood dripped freely down the thief's throat. When he knew the job was done, Sasiv simply let the Argonian fall to the floor. He looked to the Quarra, her head raised by this time and watching everything going on. He grinned.

"That one will be the runt of my children," he told her playfully. "He'll be fun!"

He walked to the Quarra and held his still-bleeding wrist to her mouth. She looked at him in surprise and began to drink, feeling strength flow back to her as the vitae rushed through her veins. She looked back at Sasiv lovingly, amazed at the kindness a vampire of an opposing clan was showing her. Her cheeks were flush with life once again and she pulled away.

_THUD!_

With one clean stroke, the Sword of Arkay slammed into the upright board, decapitating both of the vampires cleanly. As Sasiv's body slumped to the floor, an Imperial woman's voice said softly, "Next time you kill a hunter, make sure he's alone before you put your guard down."

Where she had come from was unknown, and even the large group of thieves seemed surprised when they returned to the room and found her.

"The Order's deal with you is over," she told their leader when he approached her. "Your location here is no longer a secret. I suggest you leave, go back to whatever it was you did before this. And torch this place before you go."

With this, she gripped the amulet around her neck in her hand and disappeared in a flash of white light. The thieves stood silent, looking to their leader for orders.

"Well then…" he said, just as confused as the rest of them. "Um…just…pick up anything that'll sell. Cover the place in those extra guar skins we got and start a fire in each room. That should light this place up well enough and make sure nothing is found."

Without saying a word, the thieves followed the orders. Within a matter of hours, everything was collected, the fires were lit, and the group was on its way to their next stop.

What they failed to find was their brother thief, the Argonian that had attacked the vampire not-quite fearlessly. The coloring of his scales blended so well with the rock around him that he looked like a large boulder or lump on the floor of the cave. This natural color had little to do with it, however, as the Berne blood that was now coursing its way through his veins had already started its work. The vampire in him awoke in his subconscious and hid him until he awoke.

When he _did_ awake, it was to the heat of the flames around him and the choking amount of smoke throughout the cave. Without consciously deciding to, the Argonian cast a spell of levitation and rose through a hole in the top of the cave. From there, he traveled to Ald'ruhn to find his first meal and a place to bed down. That, however, is another story.


End file.
